Judge Spares Offshore Wind Farm In Resident Noise Suit

By Nate Beck

A New Jersey federal judge dismissed a challenge from a group of residents to an offshore wind development, finding state laws regulating construction noise and operation don't apply to the work authorized by Congress.

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NJ University Can't Escape Ex-Professor's Age Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A New Jersey university must face a former professor's lawsuit claiming she was demoted because she was in her 60s and fired after she complained, as a federal judge ruled her allegations were detailed enough to stay in court.

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Painting Co. Loses $350K Fee Bid In Union Pension Row

By Emily Brill

A painting company that defeated litigation claiming it owed a union pension fund $427,000 can't make the fund cover its roughly $350,000 in legal fees, a New Jersey federal judge ruled, saying the company could only clinch fee coverage if the fund acted unreasonably, which it didn't.

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J&J Says Ill. Ruling Backs Beasley Allen's DQ From Talc Suits

By George Woolston

Johnson & Johnson told a New Jersey federal court that a recent ruling in Illinois backs the Beasley Allen Law Firm's disqualification from multidistrict litigation over its talcum powder.

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Borrowers Seek NJ Mass Tort Status For Debt Buyer Suits

By George Woolston

Consumers challenging LVNV Funding LLC's attempts to collect their debts that they say are void under state law have applied to the New Jersey Supreme Court to centralize their suits as multicounty litigation.

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Gov't Pauses Medicaid Data Use For ICE Amid Injunction Fight

By Ben Adlin

The Trump administration agreed at a hearing Thursday to temporarily halt the use of 22 states' Medicaid data for immigration enforcement purposes until a San Francisco federal judge clarifies the boundaries of an injunction that the largely Democratic-controlled states had accused the government of flouting.

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Exec Fired By 5-Hour Energy Founder Wins Trial Over Pay

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal jury credited severance claims from an executive who worked for the former publisher of Sports Illustrated, awarding him over $1 million after he was fired when the billionaire founder of 5-Hour Energy drinks took control, according to a Thursday verdict sheet.

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Sunoco Pipeline Suit Belongs In Federal Court, 3rd Circ. Told

By Matthew Santoni

The inclusion of a Pennsylvania-based Energy Transfer LP subsidiary in a state agency's administrative order over a pipeline spill should not be enough to give a state court jurisdiction over local residents' lawsuit stemming from the same spill, Sunoco and Energy Transfer's lawyers told a Third Circuit panel Thursday.

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Series

Playing Magic: The Gathering Makes Me A Better Lawyer

The competitive card game Magic: The Gathering offers me a training ground for the strategic thinking skills crucial to litigation, challenging me to adapt to oft-updated rules, analyze text as complicated as any statute and anticipate my opponent’s next moves, says Christopher Smith at Lash Goldberg.

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How They Won It

How Sullivan & Cromwell Won An $18B 'Bet The Country' Case

By Chris Villani

It is not often that a Second Circuit ruling is hailed as "the greatest legal achievement in national history" by a country's president, but that's what happened after a team from Sullivan & Cromwell LLP persuaded the appellate panel to nix an $18 billion judgment against Argentina.

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Jones Day Beats Sanctions Bid In $2M Fee Dispute

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois state judge has ruled that Jones Day can pursue punitive damages on several of its claims in a lawsuit alleging a former client made a series of unlawful transactions to avoid paying over $2 million in legal fees, and also denied sanctions sought by the ex-client against the firm.

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Google $700M Deal Nears Approval As Judge Questions Fees

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge said Thursday he would likely give final approval to Google's $700 million antitrust deal with states and consumers, but criticized the accompanying request for $85 million in attorney fees, calling the 100,000 hours the consumers' counsel said they spent on the case "grotesquely bloated."

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'Christian Witch' Says Jenner & Block Must Face Vax Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

A former Jenner & Block LLP employee told an Illinois federal judge that she didn't need to disclose that she's a "Christian witch" in order to seek an exemption to the law firm's COVID-19 vaccine requirement, urging the court to reject her ex-employer's bid to toss the case.

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Senate Advances Mont. Judge Pick Rated Unqualified By ABA

By Courtney Bublé

A judicial nominee for the District of Montana who was the only nominee of the second Trump administration so far to receive a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association advanced out of committee on Thursday.

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Judge Denies Push To Stop Closed Immigration Hearings

By Tom Lotshaw

A D.C. federal judge denied a Minnesota human rights organization's request to block immigration judges from restricting public and press access to proceedings, ruling that it failed to show an immediate threat of future harm from unlawful hearing closures.

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LSC Decries House Subcommittee's Proposed Budget Cut

By Marco Poggio

The nation's largest funder of civil legal aid condemned a House appropriations proposal to slash its budget for fiscal year 2027 by more than half, warning Thursday the reduction could leave nearly 3 million Americans without help for critical civil legal problems.

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Ex-Husch Blackwell Partner Urges Discovery In ERISA Dispute

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

A former Husch Blackwell LLP partner has urged a Missouri federal court to ignore the firm's request for summary judgment in a dispute over employee retirement benefits, arguing discovery should proceed in the proposed class action.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

A pair of door manufacturers ended a landmark private merger challenge, state enforcers are gearing up for a potential Live Nation breakup bid following a crucial jury win, and a separate group of states and DirecTV are challenging Nexstar's $6.2 billion deal for rival broadcaster Tegna.

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Hub Hires: Weil Gotshal, Reed Smith, Morgan Lewis

By Chris Villani

April showers bring legal hires in Boston, with several attorneys on the move. Weil Gotshal snagged an international trade lawyer from Kirkland & Ellis, Morgan Lewis added an attorney from Hunton, and Reed Smith continued to expand its new Boston office.

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